No joke: Northwestern takes two of top three spots in D-II regional discus

Korbin Spencer wasn’t himself. Things like that happen to unsuspecting sophomores in track and field meets the magnitude of a regional.

And as always, Northwestern High School junior teammate Adam Riedinger was there to offer comforting words. How did that go?

“He said, don’t be nervous and he started telling me jokes,” Spencer admitted after they went first and third in the discus. “I was nervous at the beginning. I just worked on my nerves.”

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The top four in each Division II regional event at Piqua advance to the season-ending state track and field meet at Ohio State University’s Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus next week.

The 4x800 relay was Thursday’s only running final, along with half the field events. All the other racing was to qualify for Saturday’s finals.

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As they have all season, Riedinger and Spencer nearly dominated in their specialty. Riedinger led from his opening throw and won with a final heave of 164 feet, 11 inches.

Spencer (159-4) was overtaken by Eaton’s Chase Smith (164-6). Those 16 points were enough to vault Northwestern to the top of the boys team scoring, 16-15 over runner-up Versailles.

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Riedinger will attempt to add a regional shot put title on Saturday. He was third at state in the discus last season and is looking to better that.

“That would mean the world to me (to win state),” he said. “That’s when it really counts.”

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• Greenon sophomore Delaney Benedict and Shawnee sophomore Robie Glass each posted top qualifying times. Benedict was first in the 400 finals qualifying (57.75) and Glass did likewise in the 200 (22.14).

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Glass will have a big part in Shawnee’s bid for a team title. He’s the defending D-II state high jump champ and will go in that event on Saturday. He also ran on Shawnee’s finals-qualifying 4x200 (1:30.05) and 4x400 (3:21.11) relays.

Shawnee also advanced in the 4x100 relay (43.72) and senior Jack McCrory in the 100 (11.35).

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• Kenton Ridge advanced in the boys 4x100 relay (43.77) but will have to overcome Dunbar (43.32) in that event. The Wolverines won a D-II boys state team title last season without winning an event, but are loaded in sprints, hurdles and relays.

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• Saturday’s field events start at 11 a.m. and running finals at 12:30 p.m. The Divisions I (Wayne) and III (Troy) regionals were scheduled to conclude on Friday.

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